1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a gripper mechanism for machines, robots and handling equipment, comprising at least one movable gripping finger, which, serving as a coupling member of a guiding transmission, is driven by two drive shafts, a crank shaft, belt pulley shaft or pinion or gear wheel or chain sprocket shaft, and which pivots the gripping finger from the foremost operating side rearwardly and sideways.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Gripper mechanisms, the gripping fingers of which are set into motion by a drive shaft move their gripping finger either in rotary fashion by way of a pivotal joint, mounted in the chassis, known as an angular gripper, or parallel as a connecting bar of a linkage parallelogram known as a parallel gripper. Angular grippers have the advantage that their gripping fingers in the opened position can be swung away from the operating region ahead of the gripper housing. Other objects can be transported past the gripper unimpededly. However, they suffer from the great disadvantage that they apply their gripping fingers for different sizes of objects at differing angles against the object which renders the configuring of the gripping jaws as well as the use of the gripper for objects of different sizes to be gripped difficult and greatly limited. The parallel grippers, which conduct their gripping fingers as connecting rods of a linkage parallelogram on the other hand suffer from the disadvantage that their gripping fingers cannot be completely swung sideways out of the operating region ahead of the gripper casing, because the linkage parallelogram assumes an unstable position, the final or extended position, in which the gripping finger cannot apply force to the object being gripped and may in this position also continue to run in anti-parallel fashion.